As per reports claimed, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja also feature in the same list of players alongside Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Rishabh Pant, the players who could not take up the Tests in the first phase either due to injury or maybe illness, and are expected to take up the tests in the next phase.
The Indian management is currently busy conducting the fitness Tests on its centrally contracted cricketers, ahead of the Asia Cup, which would be followed immediately by the West Indies red-ball home series and then the white-ball tour to Australia.
As a result, the likes of the players who were part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the ones who will be seen in the Asia Cup, and the legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who might make their comeback in the Australia test, are all undergoing a series of fitness Tests decided by the strength and fitness coach at the CoE.
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KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja did not take the Fitness Test in the First phase
As per reports from Dainik Jagran reporter Abhishek Tripathi, who has reported that the fitness tests have been conducted for a large pool of Indian players, he has also claimed that there are a few players who have either not appeared for the tests or have failed them in the first phase due to injuries or illness.
The list includes some very big names; however, the names of Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have sent shockwaves, since Jadeja has often been cited as the fittest among Indian players. However, the question arises that impending age is a concern for the legendary all-rounder.
Jadeja and KL Rahul were part of the England series and went on to score 500+ runs each in the series and were the second and third-highest-scoring Indian batters, respectively. Jadeja also bowled the second-most overs in the series for India and picked up 7 wickets as well.
Though no reason has been specified, it is clear that the two veterans, Jadeja and KL Rahul, have not taken the fitness tests in the first phase and will be taking them up in the next phase, which will also be held in September for the players who are currently under rehab.
Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy en route to make comebacks post rehab
Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy are among the other two names who have also missed the first phase of the fitness tests, like KL Rahul and Jadeja.
The all-rounder Reddy was injured during India’s campaign in England during the Lord’s Test. The all-rounder was hence flown back to India and has been undergoing his recovery at the BCCI Centre of Excellence since then.
Rishabh Pant, who struggled with many injury scares, was ruled out with a fracture to his right foot after the Manchester Test. He reportedly missed the Asia Cup selection as well and is finally expected to take the fitness tests ahead of the West Indies Test series.
Players to have completed their Fitness Tests with the BCCI
According to the report, players who have completed or partially completed their fitness tests in the first phase include Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Rajat Patidar, Ravi Bishnoi, Sanju Samson, and Shivam Dube.
The likes of other players like Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Mukesh Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, and Yashasvi Jaiswal have also cleared their fitness tests.
Players still to take the Tests include KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep, Rishabh Pant, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
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